Zodiac Creed
by thehappystalkerball
Summary: You don't want to mess with the Sohmas. Inspired by Assassin's Creed.  Kyo, Haru, and Akito centric.  R&R and enjoy! Canon couples. Post-manga.
1. Missing Aura

**A/N:** _This is a result of playing too much Assassin's Creed last summer while reading Fruits Basket during breaks. Also, just kind of a way to relieve some stress. In my original summary there was a character death warning, so for the sensitive, here is the warning: there will be two tragic character deaths in this story with the possibility of more later on. Now for the story..._

It had been a long day. Kyo slumped in the airport chair he currently occupied. Chatter and activity from other travelers surrounded him on all sides. Wistfully, he glanced over at a nearby couple with their hands interlocked. Tohru had been unable to accompany him, having to stay at home with their young son. It was a little lonely, but it was a trip he simply had to make. Thankfully, it was nearing the end. By this time the next day, he should be home.

_"Meow! Meow! Meow!" _Kyo nearly jumped three feet in the air at the sudden sound of a cachophony of cats mewling nearby. Heads turned towards him and he turned a bright red as the horrible realization struck him that the source of the awfully loud and annoying sound was coming from his travel bag. He yanked it open and frantically dug around until his hands clasped around the cell phone Tohru had talked him into buying a couple years ago. She must have thought it would be cute to change his ring tone and turn it up to full volume without his knowledge. No, that wasn't like Tohru at all. Arisa had decided to keep Tohru company in his absence and had arrived at their house the day before he left. This was definitely more up her alley and he wouldn't be shocked if Hanajima had been the brains behind the whole operation. Those two never tired of constantly teasing him.

In his hurry to get the noise to stop and finally rid himself of the unwanted attention from other travelers, he flipped open the phone without a glance at the caller ID. "Yeah?" he snapped into the phone, thoroughly annoyed with his situation. He would definitely find a way to pay back Tohru's friends and he had a couple of long flights to come up with some sinister ideas.

A cool voice responded, "That's how you answer your phone?"

Kyo froze at the sound of Akito's voice on the other end of the line. There was no longer any curse to be concerned over and no Isolated Room, but Akito was still the head of the Sohma family. While she did normally stay away from most members of the former Zodiac, Shigure and Hatori being the main exceptions, it was never a good thing to actually hear from her, especially if she was the one initiating the contact. The only other time she had called him, it was to report that his father had died. "What's wrong?" he asked after getting over his initial shock of realizing Akito had called him for the first time in almost two years.

Akito got straight to the point without any preamble. She could have teased him, but this was serious and good-natured teasing had never been her strong suit. "You're supposed to be meeting with Yuki and Machi at your next layover, right?"

Kyo dumbly nodded at the phone. His next layover was nearly four hours and in the town Yuki and Machi had moved to so the three had decided to meet up for a meal at a restaurant. Over the last few years, he and Yuki had developed an amicable friendship. It helped that they had spent three years as housemates and classmates. Naturally, the curse lifting also helped them see each other without all the fog and hatred their possessed spirits had for each other. They actually felt like relatives, family. Yuki and Machi liked to stay updated about Tohru and how his dojo was coming along and, of course, their son. In turn, Tohru always wrote letters to the two and had been so excited that Kyo was going to get to see how they were doing. She had insisted he give them each a big hug. He had grudgingly agreed to give Machi one, but insisted to Tohru that Yuki would just have to settle with a pat on the shoulder or something more guy-ish. They sure hadn't become close enough to be considered a bromance by any span of the imagination. Sometimes, he felt Tohru had an entirely different idea about how well he and his distant cousin got along. After a couple moments of silence, Kyo realized Akito wasn't answering because she couldn't see him. "Yes, I'm supposed to meet them later." His stomach crawled with anxiety. "Why?"

There was a brief hesitation before Akito launched into an explanation, "No one has been able to get in touch with them for the past couple days. Kakeru called me yesterday, saying he was concerned because neither would answer their calls or texts. Hatsuharu has voiced the same concerns to Shigure and Hatori."

The anxiety in his stomach heightened. Machi could be pretty spacey, so her not answering her calls or texts wasn't that big of a deal. Yuki, on the other hand, might tease and mess with Kakeru as the two were very close friends, Kyo knew that. He could even see Yuki getting annoyed with Haru bragging about Rin's breasts or something else totally random to Yuki and not answering texts. However, judging by the gravity in Akito's voice and that Akito was even _involved_ in the first place, he knew these were serious texts Kakeru and Haru were sending out. Small cell phone screens with the messages "Where are you?" and "Are you okay?" flashed through his mind's eye. Knowing Haru, he had probably already decided to start walking there. It was very out of character for Yuki not to answer concerned texts and phone calls unless he was..._unable_ to. There was something else, too. He could sense it in Akito's tone. There was deep concern and even a slight tinge of dread laced her words. A piece of the story she hadn't revealed yet. "What aren't you telling me, Akito?"

Another pause and a deep breath. "Be careful, Kyo. I don't think they will be showing up to meet you." Now, Kyo's stomach was positively twisting with knots and turns and he could feel the ice in his veins freeze with trepidation at whatever else Akito was going to tell him.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not absolutely sure what's going on, but there has been large withdrawals from both their bank accounts the last few days. They've been completely drained. Kakeru said he stopped hearing from either of them a few days ago and that was the same day the largest withdrawal was taken out of both accounts. I have a _very _bad feeling about this."

Of course Akito would have checked with the accountants over the money. After all, she was the head of the family and largely responsible for making sure the Sohma money went to where it belonged, among many other things. She had said the last sentence with such an air of finality, it made the blood in Kyo go cold. "A very bad feeling..." he muttered absently into the phone, too shocked to say much else, still trying to process all the information.

Akito heard it and regarded it as a question. "Yes, I can still feel some of you. Your auras."

Kyo twitched at this new and, frankly, unpleasant information. "You can?" He knew he sure couldn't feel her anymore and was incredibly grateful for that.

Another brief pause as Akito weighed how much to tell him. "Yes, it's not anything like it was before. I just can feel that you all are still around. Most of you. I can't feel Kureno, Momiji, or Hiro because they all broke free from the curse on their own. I can feel the aura of everyone else, though." This made sense. Over the last several years, it had come out that Akito had played a big part in causing the curse to fall apart despite her own inhibitions. Naturally, if they had waited it out, it probably would have faded within their lifetimes, anyway, Even so, Kyo was grateful that his life had become much more livable than pre-curse. He had been irritated as all get out once he had learned that _Momiji _and _Hiro_ had freed themselves of the curse. How that had been possible was above and beyond his comprehension and he tried not to dwell on it too much because he did not want to develop an inferiority complex over it. He took comfort in the fact that at least, it had not been _Ayame_ to outsmart them all.

It hit Kyo suddenly and he gripped the phone a little tighter as his face lost color. "You can't feel Yuki's aura anymore? Is that what you are getting at?"

"Exactly."

Dazed, Kyo slumped further into his chair unsure how to respond to this new knowledge. Akito had spoken with such an air of finality. Clearly, she believed Yuki was already dead and probably Machi along with him. This just didn't add up. How could they just- he had just spoken to Yuki a few days ago and they had agreed on a place to meet up at. After a couple minutes of silent shock, he realized Akito was saying his name. He shook his head as if he could just shake the horrible news he'd just found out away. "Yeah? I'm still here."

"Good. I was getting worried. Like I said, be careful. I'm hoping this will all turn out to be nothing, but I'm pretty sure something is up and it's not good. Contact me as soon as you find out what's wrong." With that, Akito hung up the phone and Kyo was listening to a dead line for several moments before slowly putting his phone back into his bag. His movements were mechanical and forced. He had to expend extra energy on every move his limbs made. His eyes felt heavy and he felt very drained, much more tired than he had before his surprise talk with the head of the Sohma family.

An announcement from the gate guard informed the restless travelers that it was time for the plane to board. Kyo waited in a line, completely dazed. He showed his ticket and shuffled after other passengers, boarding the plane, and finding his seat. Once there, he slumped again and stared down at his hands, dreading his next stop.

This was going to be a very long flight.


	2. Frightening Find

It was hard to swallow his food. Kyo rigidly sat alone at a table in the restaurant he was supposed to have met Yuki and Machi in. He had held onto hope that maybe Akito was just above and beyond paranoid and concocting stories to make herself look more in control than what she was. After all, it was still hard to believe after all this time, she could just feel his aura and he was still unhappy about it. His unhappiness was turning into a mix of anger and despair as he pushed food around on his plate, all hope that things were perfectly fine evaporating into thin air. Sighing, he set his fork down onto his plate with a loud clink. The noise was quickly lost into the hustle and bustle of the restaurant and his server hardly noticed that he was edgy and testy. There was no way they would forget to show up without giving him some kind of notice.

The sound of his phone ringing made him jump and he angrily berated himself for not changing the ringtone. "What?" he angrily snapped into the phone, half expecting to hear Akito's calculating voice on the other end again.

"K-Kyo? Did I call at a bad time? I can call later!" Tohru's apologetic voice greeted him instead and he felt himself burn up with frustration at himself. He should have checked the caller ID! It seemed as if he always forgot to do such a simple thing.

"No, of course not, Tohru! You are my _wife!_ Call anytime, geeze!" He sighed, wishing he could get that through Tohru's head. "How are things?"

"Everything is great, but it would be better with you here. We miss you already and are so excited to see you later!" He could practically see her beaming at the phone and smiling brightly.

"Yeah, I miss you too and can't wait to get back."

"How are you Yuki and Machi doing?"

Kyo blinked, unsure what to say.

"Kyo?"

"I haven't seen them yet. But I'll tell them you said 'hi'," his voice came out a little strained and he hoped she wouldn't be able to tell that anything was wrong. He wasn't exactly sure what he would tell her if anything was wrong. It would be difficult news to deliver especially to Tohru. After all, Yuki, along with Shigure, were the two to get Tohru involved in Sohma affairs in the first place.

"Is everything...okay?" She caught on quicker than he would have liked. "You aren't fighting or anything?" Not that he had ever really gotten into a fight with Machi and he and Yuki rarely fought at all anymore unless it was teasing. He supposed Tohru still got paranoid that they could regress back to their former cursed relationship.

"I _wish_ we were," he grunted unhappily into the phone. "Look, I'll give you a call. I'm about to head over to their house and see what's up."

She was quiet for a moment, able to quickly figure out what he hadn't said. "They didn't meet you at the restaurant? Yuki said it was their favorite place." Kyo could hear the worry in her voice. It was unusual for Yuki and Machi to forget to meet up with someone.

There was no way around it. He didn't see the point in lying and she might as well start preparing herself for possible bad news. "No, they didn't. Haru and Kakeru haven't been able to get in touch with them, either." He paused for a moment before going on, "Akito called me earlier to ask me to check on them."

The gravity of the situation was not lost on his wife. "Akito called you?" Obviously this had evolved into a much more serious situation than any of them had been prepared for if Akito was already involved.

"Yeah, he-she did." Sometimes, it was still hard to outgrow old habits and many of the former Zodiac members would still refer to Akito as the wrong gender from time to time.

"Call me when you see them," Tohru said nervously, trying to remain optimistic despite the bleak outlook.

"Will do," he promised. "Love you."

"Love you, too."

With that, he stuffed his phone in his back pocket, choosing not to throw it back into his carry-on. Slinging the duffel over his shoulder, he paid for his meal and took off, slowly making his way to Yuki and Machi's place. The couple had bought a nice house in a well-kept neighborhood. Once Yuki had graduated college, it had been simple for him to find a job in the area and Machi had already moved into his studio apartment by then and worked in a restaurant in the area. It had been easy for them to decide to stay in this town and buy a house. Yuki still held onto some of resentment he'd had for the Sohmas and their estates, feeling caged in and trapped over the years, so to move so far away felt like he was really, truly free.

Kyo stood before their door and licked his lips, forcing himself to knock even though he knew no one would answer. It was early evening and no lights were on in their house. Their car sat in the driveway, indicating they definitely hadn't gone anywhere far enough to require a vehicle. Both their bikes could be seen leaning against the side of the house. He had a vague hope that maybe they were out on a walk in the park and had forgotten what day it was, but that was just too unlike his cousin.

Summoning courage, Kyo pushed the door open slowly, taking a careful step inside. "Hello?" He said into the empty hallway he stepped into. It was a long and dark hall that led straight to the living room. There was an entryway that led to the kitchen before you reached the living room. On the other side of the wall, the two rooms met up, only having a bar to separate them. He walked down the hall a bit, hands searching for the light switch. "Machi? Yuki? Heeeeyyy, anybody home?" He felt silly speaking to empty air, but it made him feel a little more at ease and less like an intruder. Still, no one answered. He flicked on the light half expecting someone to jump out and terrify him, but it was rather anti-climatic as nothing happened and still no sounds were heard.

He passed the entryway to kitchen, choosing to go straight to the living room instead. At the end of the hall, he stood stockstill, staring ahead with much dread. Upon reaching the end of the hall, he instantly knew he was not alone in the house, he could make out a shadowy lump in a far corner of the living room and the way the figure was shaped, it looked as if it had been trying to get to the kitchen. He knew the cut and style of his blood cousin's hair and knew right off the bat that the lump was definitely not Machi and more than likely Yuki. Still, he had become paralyzed with dread and shock, much the same some people get when they discover they might have cancer. If they don't get the biopsy, then maybe the problem will go away or they just don't want to know. Maybe if he didn't turn on the light, the problem would go away. Deep down, he really didn't want to know who was in the living room, lying lifelessly on the floor especially if it was someone he knew.

Finally, finally, his fingers inched slowly towards the lightswitch and his heart pounded wildly against his chest. He held his breath without realizing it, taking short gasps of breath every now and then when he absolutely needed the oxygen. The room became illuminated in light and Kyo's heart skipped several beats and dropped all at once. It was definitely Yuki in there, along with a large amount of his cousin's dried up blood. Kyo shuddered, unsure whether he should flee the scene right away and call the cops or drop down by his cousin and see if there was the chance he could be hanging onto life. Deciding that he could never live with himself if he found out his cousin had died three minutes after he arrived, he made his way over to Yuki on wobbly feet and knelt down next to him.

Right away, Kyo wished he wouldn't have. Up close, he knew there was absolutely no way Yuki could still be living. His eyes were half-lidded and vacant. It was absolutely horrifying and clearly, he had been here for more than a day, possibly two by now. Whoever was responsible for this had made sure to finish the deed before leaving. Kyo stared down at his cousin, eyes wide with disbelief. "What the hell happened here?" he asked him without even realizing he had spoken aloud. He looked expectantly at Yuki, but no answers were going to come from his pale lips. Kyo glanced at the dried bloody streaks behind Yuki, clearly indicating his cousin had been trying to crawl somewhere with his severe injuries at one point. "Where were you trying to go, you stupid rat? You got killed trying to get there." The kitchen. That was definitely the direction Yuki had been heading. Kyo forced himself to stand up and look over in the direction of the darkened kitchen area. "Is Machi in the kitchen, Yuki?" he asked, vaguely aware it was probably bad for a person's state of mental health to be conversing with corpses.

With glazed eyes, Kyo made his way over to the kitchen, dreading what he would find. He already felt extremely ill and thought he would start upchucking any moment now. He wasn't sure he could handle the sight of another relative in any condition remotely similar to what he had just seen. He said nothing, resisting the urge to call out to Machi, already knowing she would not answer. A brief alarm went off in his head that maybe the person or persons responsible for this horrid deed were still in the house, but he quickly pushed it aside seeing as the blood around Yuki had been dried and not wet and fresh. They had to have left the house. Besides he could get to the exit quickly through the kitchen and get out of this house as he definitely had no intentions of remaining inside. However, he wanted to make absolutely sure Machi was here and not missing.

Machi was in the kitchen. Crumpled up and broken, she stared lifelessly out into nothing. Chills went down Kyo's spine at the sight of her and he quickly bypassed her, certain he would find no pulse beating in her much like with Yuki. They were both gone. He hurried outside, not bothering to flick the lights back off and gasped heavily for breath once his feet found grass. He hadn't realized he had completely stopped breathing at some point, trying to be as quiet as possible as if he could somehow disturb his Yuki and Machi's eternal slumber. He shortly found himself on his knees, heaving up the food he'd eaten before stopping by their house.

Shaky hands pulled his phone out of his pocket and trembling fingers dialed the police. After much stuttering and tripping over his words, Kyo finally gave the correct address and promised to wait and reassured the operator that the culprits were not inside.

He ended his call with the police operator and took several deep, steadying breaths trying to work up the strength and energy to make his next two phone calls. He suddenly felt very drained and wanted to take a nice, long nap and forget everything he had just seen. He finally decided that he would make the easier call first and dialed Akito's number.

"I was expecting you," she said without wasting time on any type of small talk. "How are they?"

"Dead."

"They are." It was more of a statement to herself than a question to Kyo, as if she was simply confirming what she already knew.

"You knew." Kyo said quietly, wanting to yell at her for sending him instead of coming herself.

"I suspected. I hoped I was wrong, but things did look suspicious."

"They were murdered. It's..._bad,_" Kyo tried to find the right words to describe the gory scene he had just encountered, but all he could think of was that it was simply _bad_. Not something he'd ever want to see again. He was already trying to burn the images out of his mind and knew he would never be able to. It was surreal. He half expected Yuki to pop out of the house and laugh at him for being a "stupid cat" and falling for his and Machi's elaborate prank. But the house remained eerily quiet and the door didn't budge.

"You called the police?"

"Yes. They are on their way." Kyo was aware he sounded much more like a mechanical doll or a small child and nothing like himself at all. His voice sounded far away and not really engaged in the conversation. He simply spoke because he felt he had to.

"Good. Just wait for them and we'll try to figure things out." With a jolt, Kyo realized he wasn't the only one who didn't sound like himself. Akito's voice had a far-off sound too and it was clear she was trying too hard to be strong and not sound terrified. There were a couple moments of silence where neither spoke or really cared when Akito suddenly asked, "Are you still flying out today?"

Kyo blinked and shook his head hard, trying to get himself to focus again. He hadn't even thought of that yet. "No, I'll wait around here with the police and just reschedule my flight for later. I mean, no other Sohmas are here and it would feel wrong to leave..." _After what I just saw, _he silently added onto the end of the last sentence. There was no way he could leave right away. Not with Yuki and Machi lying dead and crumpled up in their own blood. It would be disrespectful.

"Okay. Good. We definitely need someone there. I'll be on my way obviously." Another pause and a dragged out sigh from Akito. Suddenly, she sounded much, much older. "I'll have to get in touch with Hatsuharu and inform him and... _Kakeru_, too. Ayame has also been asking about his brother..." Akito trailed off and Kyo, despite never having liked the head of the family, felt sorry for her. She had a lot of phone calls to make and all of them were bad. He had only one to make for the time being. He thought of offering to help her call, but was simply in too much shock to offer anything. Besides, he needed to be available for the talks he was sure the police would want to have with him.

"Yeah, I'll call you later after I talk to the police. I'm gonna call Tohru."

"Good," he could hear a hint of jealousy in her tone. Obviously calling Tohru would be more appealing than calling Hatsuharu, Kakeru, or Ayame. "Call me as soon as you find out anything."

"Will do." With that, they both ended their calls and started making dreaded new ones.


	3. Conversations

A/N: changed the title because I realized it wasn't just about Kyo. Originally wanted this title anyway, but I have a book on the actual Zodiac killer that gives me the heebie-jeebies, but oh well. Might be some typos in here, I'll recheck tomorrow, getting kind of late my time. Please review if you can, thank you!

Akito listlessly stared at the phone in her hand. Even though she had expected to hear those words from Kyo's mouth, she had silently prayed and held onto hope that she would be wrong and it was just that the curse had finally completely broken and that was the real reason she could no longer feel Yuki's aura at all. It was a silly thing to want to believe: after all, she could still feel everyone's auras pulse deeply within her the only exceptions being Kureno, Hiro, and Momiji. She knew where there auras should be rhythmically pulsing with her and she felt empty but had grown used to it over the last few years. Yuki's aura had abruptly vanished much like the first three, but it hadn't affected her nearly as much as the other three. She knew this was because the curse was no longer in action, but couldn't help find it ironic that the one time she should have felt torn apart and like she was dying inside due to the destroyed link, she had simply jumped slightly and frowned down at her lunch.

Immediately, she had informed Shigure that she suspected something was wrong. Instinctively, Akito had suspected Yuki was no longer living. She knew people in their mid twenties didn't just up and die without serious medical conditions and had thought that maybe his childhood illness had caught up to him, but immediately discarded the idea after an impromptu meeting with Hatori. He had insisted their relative was the picture of perfect health and absolutely not likely to have an attack of any kind unless seriously ill. Having just spoken with Tohru two days ago and knowing Kakeru and Ayame both kept closely in touch with Yuki and Machi, Akito was well aware that neither of the couple had been remotely sick, not even with a slight cough or runny nose.

Naturally, she had summoned an accountant and had them investigate recent bank activity. She was loathe to admit it, but greed was an evil _and_ enthusiastic motivator. The Sohmas were well known names throughout the communities and it wouldn't take much research in Yuki and Machi's locale to figure out the two were loaded thanks to inheritance. After her checkered past, she didn't have much faith in humanity; after all, she was human and she knew too well the deeds she had done and the harm that had been brought to others, specifically Yuki. She had not gone to any lengths to get in touch with him and had been surprised when he had contacted her first, asking how she was doing not too long after he had moved away. She remembered Ayame boasting about how kind his brother was and after that call, she knew it was boastful but truthful. She could feel her own heart thumping a little more furiously against her chest as she thought about it. On the phone with Kyo, she had done an excellent job at keeping her anger at bay, but know it was coating every inch of her, making her want to throw something and scream. Life was so not fair! He had only been free from the curse for a few years and somebody who wanted some money comes along and murders him _and _his innocent lover, who still knew nothing of the curse!

Shigure dropped all his papers at the sound of Akito's screams and glass breaking. He had been down the hall in another room, but took off within an instant of the first sound. He skidded down the hall and found Akito, screaming her throat raw and flinging random objects out of the shattered window. It took him less than a moment to realize it was the room Yuki had spent so much of his early life in. He had tried to redecorate it to keep the sour memories at bay for her, but Akito normally avoided the room like a plague, feeling shame and regret at eat her when she was in it. Instantly, he knew she had found something out about Yuki and it was obviously bad. He moved forward, catching her hands in his and squeezing them tightly hoping to offer comfort. She stopped for a moment before looking up at him with wide, tearful eyes.

"Were your suspicions confirmed?" he asked quietly. Akito's eyes widened more and she gave a slight head jerk indicating they had been before being enveloped into a hug. "I'm so sorry," Shigure whispered, staring out the broken window. Akito cried into his chest before pulling away, taking several deep breaths before finding her voice. Once she was confident her voice wouldn't break, she began to explain what Kyo had told her on the phone.

"Someone killed them. Kyo said it was bad."

"Kyo is there?"

"Yes, he said he would stay for awhile until things got sorted out."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Not yet. Just us. And Kyo."

"Tohru?"

"I don't think so."

"She's not going to take it very well at all."

"I know."

"Ayame?"

"No."

"Hatsuharu?"

Akito narrowed her eyes at him. _"No. Just us." _

Shigure sighed. "I know. It's just a lot to take in. Give me a minute or two here." He ran his hand through his hair, thoughts racing all over the place. Obviously, someone was going to have to tell Ayame and their parents. Geeze, did Yuki's parents have incredibly bad luck or what? Shigure knew that they had gotten special status for having the rat when the Zodiac was still active, but how had that woman managed to have a snake, rat, and then have a son murdered before the age of thirty? No grandkids, either.

"Shigure?"

"What?"

"You're going to call Ayame. You can deal with him best."

Shigure shook his head.

"I'm not going to!"

"I know. I'll tell Haa-san, that's more up his alley."

Akito rolled her eyes. "I don't think this is up anyone's alley."

Shigure cracked a small, tight smile and shook his head again. "No, it's not, but Hatori would be the best person to tell Ayame. Hatori is good at comforting people even if he doesn't think so."

Akito nodded, still sniffling here and there and trying to keep her thoughts straight. When her mind was occupied with how to best deal with things it helped her not think so much about it. She didn't want to keep seeing the image of the small, sick boy that had been forced into being her playmate through Fate, she didn't want to think of that same boy lying dead in his house as Kyo had reported. Instead, she focused on the next problem that needed solving. "Who's going to tell Hatsuharu?"

"Rin," Shigure easily answered. "We'll tell her first and let her be the one to break the news to Haa-kun."

"Kakeru?"

Both were silent and Shigure shook his head again. "I don't know. I guess I can."

"Her parents, too?"

Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair. "Somebody has to. We can't let a police officer knock on their door and be the one to deliver the news."

Akito gave a dry, humorless laugh. "Somehow, you wind up being the person to have to tell everyone." Shigure's face fell and he nodded unenthusiastically. "I'll be with you each time, of course." He smiled gratefully at her.

"You sweet girl. Let's start with Haa-san, he can help us spread the sordid news once he knows."

_**OoOoOoOO**_

Grimly, Hatori knocked on Ayame's shop, steeling his nerves for the upcoming emotional conversation. He hoped Mine was around because Hatori doubted just himself would be enough to comfort his friend. He still couldn't quite believe what Shigure and Akito had told him. It had grown very awkward after the news when the three had sat there in silence and he looked expectantly at Shigure.

"What?" his close friend had asked.

"What kind of cruel practical joke is this?" he had demanded. After a couple intense moments of silence, it had sank in. "It's not, is it." It hadn't been a question.

Now, he stood in front of Ayame's shop, having been bestowed the duty of delivering heartbreaking news to his dear, if annoying at times, friend.

The door flung open and Ayame beamed at him, his flamboyant nature emphasized by the crimson gown that reached his ankles. "My, my, what a gift from God today to bring the wonderful Tori-san into my loving presence!" Ayame smiled bright and reached out to playfully grab his friend's arm and pull him into a hug. Usually, Hatori would move his hand out of the way and mutter some comment before walking past him and into the shop. Today, however, he made no move to resist and was willfully pulled into a tight hug. "This is most unusual! Tori-san must have been craving the affections of the great Ayame! My time is just too valuable to too many men in the world and I have been shoving aside Tori-san time for it. Have you come by to teach me a lesson on how to better manage my time because I do have to say I don't have much time, but for you, I have all the time in the world!"

Hatori pulled away with a shake of his head. "You are talking in circles again, Ayame. And I-I" Hatori halted, not sure how to preface the news he was going to have to force out of his mouth.

"Being in my presence in this stunning dress has made you unable to think clearly enough to complete sentences! Tori-san, I didn't know you were into that sort of thing. I can't wait to tell Shigure, we're always saying how you should get in on the action!"

"I really don't want to know," Hatori said with a roll of his eyes. "No, Ayame, we have to talk. Without you in that dress. It's serious."

"Too serious for my gorgeous dress? Since you're so blown away with how wonderful my manly body looks in this stunning gown, I will remove it so you can think and speak without stuttering." Ayame began to to wiggle out and Hatori gave him a push.

_"In _the shop and not in front of me," he demanded, finally walking past Ayame and seating himself on a couch. "Where's Mine?"

"Tori-san, one day we're going to get you to lighten up and have some real fun but since you insist I will change and be right back out. Mine is out buying some trinkets we needed for this piece. Try not to miss me too terribly while I'm away and take one last look at me like this for who knows when I will grace the world again in this vivacious dress!"

"Just go," Hatori ordered, folding his arms across his chest. Ayame left and Hatori unfolded his arms with a sigh. It didn't take long before he was fiddling with a lighter and had a cigarette between his mouth. He had hoped desperately that Mine would be around for this. He couldn't afford to stall though or he might just lose his nerve completely. Ayame would not be thrilled he was smoking, but he need something to calm his shot nerves. Ayame took his sweet time and Hatori managed to finish off two cigarettes before his friend reappeared in his usual getup. Still flamboyant but not as obviously feminine.

"Okay, Tori-san, I am so grateful you have traveled here to see me without me having to call or anything. How happily unexpected. You should make this happen more often!"

Hatori tried not to look too pained at Ayame's words. "I don't think you'll be saying that after I've told you what I came here to tell you."

"Oh yes, something serious, right? And Tori-san, you really shouldn't smoke indoors. You really shouldn't smoke at all, it's not healthy for you and I worry for you."

"Something serious, yes. Sit down. It's-it's about Yuki."

That got Ayame's attention and he sat, trying to keep a smile but he could sense something was off. "What about my brother? We're getting along very well still. It was a long and winding road but I conquered and not we watch the sunset together daily!"

"You do not." Hatori inhaled deeply and placed his hand on Ayame's shoulder, squeezing tightly. Ayame's eyes instantly widened. Something was very wrong here. The last time he had seen his friend look so down was during his parents' illness that had cost their lives.

"What? What is it? You're frightening me, Tori-san."

"Kyo is over there now. Akito was worried because no one could get in touch and made sure Kyo would check on him and Machi. Turns out Kyo had plans to meet them, anyway." He squeezed Ayame's shoulder a little tighter and Ayame reached over his chest to place his own hand over Hatori's and squeeze it, too.

"And?"

"He's...not with us...anymore." Hatori got out quietly.

Ayame blinked a couple times, eyes immediately feeling up with tears. He managed a nod to indicated he understood. A couple more blinks and the tears were rolling down his cheeks. He squeezed Hatori's hand on his shoulder again be resting the side of his face over their hands and openly crying. Hatori scooted closer and embraced his friend, a few tears of his own escaping. He gently rocked his friend back and forth whispering heart felt apologies the entire time, not caring that his clothes were getting soaked in tears and snot. Ayame clung to him, heaving and only to make pained, incomprehensible noises. Mine found the two like that when she walked in. Ayame simply choked out the name of his brother and she knew. She sat on the other side of Ayame, throwing her arms around him and leaning her whole body against his, tears of her own forming at seeing her loved one in such pain.

_**OoOoOoOoO**_

Silence reigned over Rin and Haru as the two stared at each other over their food. They had been eating and towards the end of the meal, Rin decided it might be the best time to tell her lover of his ill-fated friend. He stared at her in disbelief. After a couple moments he finally found his voice. "Why would you say something like that, Rin?"

"Because it's true! Shigure and Akito were over here and told me." To say she had been shocked would be an understatement. She had thought things couldn't get any weirder when saw those two approach her, of all people. She had tried over the past few years to find it in her heart to forgive Akito of all her past deeds, but Rin held onto much of her bitterness unable to completely absolve it all and come to terms with this new person Akito had transformed into. When they had announced the sudden death of Yuki and Machi, she had automatically suspected Akito had to have done something, but shoved her suspicions aside. Obviously, Akito had been nowhere near the two and it was just Rin's paranoia that the curse could come back any moment now. After all, the only reason she was free of it was because Akito had released them early. She often speculated that Akito had the power to reattach them, but that was just fuel for her nightmares. She hoped it was just that.

"No-there's _no_ way! You've never cared much for Yuki, Rin, but this is ridiculous." She had known telling Haru was going to be an awful experience. She was well aware how much Haru deeply cared for their distant cousin and how much of an impact there had been on Haru's life through Yuki. It was true; she had never been Yuki's biggest fan but she had never wished for him to be viciously murdered in his own house. Admittedly, she had wished awful things on him before when they were children, but not recently and certainly never anything on Machi.

"Haru, it's _true,_" Rin's voice was rising to meet the angry tone of his. "He's _dead." _

Haru swept his arm across the table, effectively sending his plate flying off the table and shattering to the floor. "How could you say that?" he demanded, but his fire was dying. She knew he knew that she wasn't lying and she certainly wouldn't joke about this.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, standing up and going around the table, reaching out to him. He immediately responded and she held him firmly against her body, his head resting heavily on her chest while he stared out at nothing. Rin ran her fingers comfortingly through his hair. "Say something, Haru." His cold reply sent chills down her spine.

"I'm gonna kill the bastards that did this."


	4. Suspicous Suspicions

**A/N: Kyo likes to use quite a few dirty words this chapter, just a heads up.**

"What the hell did you just say?" Kyo harshly demanded of the officer that stood before him.

"Sir, I believe you heard me just fine," the man said, sighing a bit at the end.

"No, I'm afraid I didn't, Officer. Because I just heard the words 'homicide-suicide' and I'm no cop but I can sure as hell figure out that **that** did **not **happen."

"I'm a _detective,_Sir, and that is our initial suspicions."

Kyo was livid and his eyes burned with fury. "'Initial suspicions?' What the _fuck_ is that?" When the man opened his mouth to respond, Kyo raised his hand in a fist and brought it across his throat area, throwing the hand open when he was finished with the dramatic gesture to emphasize his next words. "_No. _Don't speak. My _initial suspicions_ is that you only speak in stupid and I'm sick of this. I want to know how the hell you came to the conclusion of murder-suicide. There's no way- **no way**that could ever happen."

The detective was looking quite angry himself and making an effort to keep his voice calm. "Sir, if you cannot calm down, I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Calm?" Kyo cried angrily. "Of course I'm not calm. You're telling me my cousin murdered his girlfriend and killed himself. You might have stood half a chance with that bull story if you had switched them around, but no way is there _anybody_that's gonna believe this!"

"Sir, calm down," the detective reiterated beginning to look exasperated. "We are only here to help."

"Yeah, right. Your definition of help is slandering innocent peoples' names!" Kyo kicked at the grass, resisting the urge to punch the older man in the face. "I saw them, there is no way that was murder suicide." It was silent for a few moments before he added in a strangled whisper, "I saw them."

"I'm sorry you had to see that. I know this is hard for you."

"It is and you're making it harder, detective...what's your name?"

"You don't need to know that."

"Detective Asshole, then?"

The man sighed and folded his arms. "Basse. Detective Basse."

Kyo's eyes narrowed and he was about to accuse the man of lying when his phone began to loudly mewl. Kyo ripped the phone out of his pocket and turned his back on Detective Basse's amused face. "What?" he barked into the phone.

"Is that an invitation for fight, Kyo? Because you owe me one."  
_  
"Haru? _What do you want?"

"I think you know," Haru stated flatly over the line.

Kyo licked his lips, suddenly very nervous about setting his cousin off. Black Haru had been missing in action for awhile now, but Kyo had no doubt he could return at any moment and while Kyo would love to have him here to scare the detective, it wasn't something Kyo wanted to deal with over the phone on top of everything else. "So, you heard..." he trailed off before clarifying, "About Yuki and Machi?"

"No, I'm just calling to see how your flight went."

"Oh. It was fine, nothing special." Silence followed before Kyo closed his eyes and sighed feeling like a fool for walking into that. "Already so sarcastic, Haru?"

"What happened? Is the police there and do they have an idea of who did it?"

"Haru, it's not pretty. And the police assigned some asswad of a detective that thinks Yuki killed Machi and then committed suicide." Kyo jerked the phone away from his ear at the sound of Haru roaring angrily into the phone. Basse tapped him on the shoulder and he turned, annoyance crystal clear in his eyes. "What? Can't you see I'm talking here?"

"Looks like you're just riling up other people so I can have more problems on my hands. We're not one hundred percent on who did what. We suspect it might actually be the female, Machi, as you called her, that committed the homicide-suicide rather than the male." Kyo gaped at him for almost a full minute, before finding his voice again.

_"What?_ You're just saying that because I said it _might_ be believable if Machi did it instead of Yuki. Not that it_ is_. This is ridiculous. Up until just now you were insisting that 'the male' did it!"

Detective Basse blinked innocently at Kyo. "Sir, I have no idea what you're talking about. We've come to this conclusion based on solid evidence, not by anything you might have said, which I have no recollection of you saying."

"I just said it less than five minutes ago!"

"Sir, we have no records of you indicating any such thing."

"Just-just shut up," Kyo bit out finally, putting his phone back up to his ear.

"Wow, sounds like a real charmer," Haru had finally calmed down at some point and been listening to the parts of the conversation he could hear. Kyo grunted and rolled his eyes.

"You have no idea. So, are you on your way over here or what?"

"You sticking around there? I thought you had a flight out."

Kyo snorted and rolled his eyes, aggravated that this was the second time he'd been asked if he was going to fly out. Haru couldn't see his expression, but heard the anger in the venom that Kyo injected into his words, "No, Haru. I'm not going to just hop on a plane and fly out after I've found my cousin and his girlfriend brutally murdered in their own home. I do have something that beats inside my chest." Immediately, Kyo regretted his choice of words, realizing it was probably not the best time to talk about beating hearts at the moment. He let out an angry hiss, angry at himself, Haru, the detective, Yuki and Machi for being killed, Akito for not just jetting over here herself, and just everything in general. Frustration built up in him and he shook his head. "Look, just get over here, will ya?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on my way." It was true. Haru had booked the first flight out of there after a brief argument with Rin, who had thought this to be a terrible idea to just jet out without any further information. Rin had insisted on coming along, but Haru had thought it might get dangerous and had ducked out when he knew she wouldn't be paying attention. He was sure he'd get it from her later, but, right now, he had only one thing in mind and that was to figure out who had done this and bring them down. Even more fire to find the killer or killers burned within him after hearing the brief and angry exchange between Kyo and the detective over the phone. "I'll be there this evening. Try not to get arrested for assaulting an officer in the meantime, okay?" Haru said with a slight edge in his voice. He obviously suspected that Kyo wouldn't be able to reign his short temper in too much longer.

"I'm not stupid," Kyo replied back harshly, with a quick glance at the detective who had taken to hanging back and only lightly eavesdropping. "Look, just get here and we'll meet up and talk about what's going on, okay? I think Akito will be coming out this way, too."

"Oh goody," Haru said, but it was dry and lacked heavy sarcasm one would expect. After a moment of silence, he sighed heavily. "I'll call you when I'm there," he promised before saying goodbye and ending the phone call.

Kyo ended the phone call and stared down at his cell phone, debating whether or not he should call Tohru yet. He stared at the phone, willing it to call her itself and inform her of the awful news. Nothing happened and the detective came into his line of sight again. "Yeah?" he growled at, still looking down at his phone.

"There's not much more we can do here. The evidence that we can get has been bagged and all the photos have been taken." Both he and Kyo glanced to the house where the door was wide open and one could clearly see various crime scene investigators milling about, marking evidence and taking pictures.

"Looks like they're still working to me," Kyo said, sarcasm in his undertone. He didn't pull out the heavy sarcasm, because what the detective had told him had also caused confusion. Surely, Detective Basse knew that with just a glance back at the house, Kyo would know that the investigators were not finished, so why bother with such a flimsy lie that would be found out in less than two seconds?

"Right, well, they are wrapping it up and your friends in there are gonna be bagged and taken to the morgue."

Kyo's lip snarled at the man's insensitivity. _Bagged? _As if it would have caused the man extra trouble to just say "covered" instead. He knew then that the man was trying to get under his skin. Something about this smelled fishy. There was something completely off and more than just his dead relatives and a suspicious detective with bizarre deductive reasoning, in Kyo's opinion. "And?" Kyo prompted the detective, clearly needing a better explanation for his needed leave of the premises.

"You're probably tired and they will call you to the morgue for the autopsies, I'm sure." The man paused and raised his eyebrow. "A rich family like yours will let us do autopsies, right?"

"What? I don't know. I'm not the _next_ of kin," Kyo pointed out, "I'm a relative that was supposed to be meeting them for dinner."

"Right. Anyway, you are tired and we will be questioning you later."

"Wait, now I'm a suspect, too?"

"Just routine questioning; don't get so riled up so fast," Detective Basse warned him. "Look, you really should head out and we'll be in touch, okay?"

Kyo was reluctant to agree with anything this man said, but he had to agree that there wasn't much more he could do here. He had already seen Yuki and Machi's lifeless bodies one time too many as far as he was concerned. There was also the matter of needing to scope out a decent hotel and booking a room for the night before everyplace starting putting up "no vacancy" signs. There was the other matter of making that dreaded phone call to Tohru that he kept putting off. He promised he would call her after he found himself a hotel to stay in. Nodding to Brasse, he surprised the detective by actually doing what he wanted, "Okay, fine, I'll get out of here. I gave you my number so call me tomorrow. I gotta find a hotel and meet another cousin who's flying in later tonight." Possibly Akito, too. Kyo wasn't sure when she'd arrive, but he expected sooner rather than later. With one last lingering glance at his cousin's house, he took off without another word.


End file.
